Question of the Week: 92 - 12/29/2002What Do You See in 2003?Even though many Pagans celebrate the New Year at Samhain, Solstice or Yule, the new calendar year is upon us. Do you have a resolution to make for 2003?

What do you hope changes? What do you hope stays the same? What do you think the world will be like at the end of 2003?

What national and/or world events will be played out? Will things be better or worse? Got any predictions to declare?

To predict the future is to believe that to some degree the future is pre-determined. In 2003 people will die, I’ll plant roses in the garden, and we humans will continue our quest for the omnipotent truth. Our destiny will move no matter where we stand. We can choose to craft the future or we can ride the tide.

I’ve been all around the world and I can tell you that America is the corporate monster. We are fat and free because we have the most money, the most power, and the most corrupt politicians. We can thank God, perform our rituals, and wave our flag, but that doesn’t really mean much to a hungry child running through the slums of Haiti.

I suggest that in 2003 we stop watching the news and start making the news. If you don’t want war, then stand up for peace. If you don’t want children to starve, then feed them. There are Pagans for peace all over the planet and the numbers are growing at warp speed, but the people in Kabul can’t afford the internet and they are fresh out of libraries. It seems like a good time to REALLY come out of the closet. Each of us has the power to change the future, and together we are a voice loud enough to be heard all over the world. We just have to care enough to step up to the plate.

In the last year I have had dreams on what we see today with Iraq and I know that we are going to be in a big war that is going to end in Devestation. And so much I dont want it to happen but because of selfish people and money being an idolized object of greed we will go to war. We dont need a war we need to heal our selves and our lands before fighting anyone but because of the presidents vengents we can not rest we have to worry about our neighboring countries welfare. In my dreams i have seen the attacks on the states and other countries i know it is coming closer and I do believe that saddam is part of this. But the problem lies with attacking some one and putting persuction on someone who has not done anything for years. And though he may be telling the truth now we do not know what will happen in the years to come. Our president has never suffered so he doesnt understand what the great people of the Usa are having to deal with. His family has the money to keep him alive on some resort while bombs pound our countries lands and the future of our children infact what we do now will be the clean up of our children and this is one mess my child should not have to clean up after. Mother Earth is in great problems not just with this undeclared war but also with polution and our atmosphere as a whole, And hopefully new things will be discovered to help us further help with cleaning our lands up.

What the future bring, despite the noise, despite the fanfare, despite the hand wringing and the angry words, is more of the same old news, and will affect me the same.

When I was a young person I,I watched the peaceful world of academia, gripped by a frenzied few, turn into a rioting mob. I watched young men go to war, I watched them suffer betrayal and I watched them die. I watched the rise of hope for a new Camelot and saw it crushed by an assassin’s bullet. I watched the flowery birth of the peace movement and I was there to see it wither and fade.I watched the storm clouds of the cold war boil then disappear.

Now that I am older I realize that as significant as these events seemed at the time, their real affects on my life were minuet.

With or without them;I would still be the same Witch following the same Path.I would still wake in the mourning to the touch of the love of my life.I would still have the joy that my beautiful Daughters bring to my world.I would still have my close circle of friends.I would still have my gardens, my home, my town, and my world.I would still be at peace with my life and myself.

What come next year will be interesting, because for good or bad we live in “Interesting Times”, however, my affect on what it will be is small and its affect on me, likewise small.

I think it is common knowledge that whatever happens in the next year will have already happened and we will be powerless to change it after the fact. So, what we need to do is think right here, right now. RIGHT NOW you could be educating yourself for better service to your fellow man. RIGHT NOW you could be helping someone and you don't even know it,(wouldn't it be great if we really did know for sure how many individuals we have helped). RIGHT NOW you could be more spiritual than you are. RIGHT NOW you could be planning a future instead of dreading the future. We can only live one future at a time, one day at a time. We'd better appreciate our freedoms and our conveniences while we have them. Nothing is promised to us. It could be gone before I post this message. If you LIVE at all, you are setting an example for someone, let it be a good example, let it be a positive example. Pray for good things but don't wait for them to come to you, go to them. There is balance in the universe, sometimes it is hard to find and even harder to see, but it is there. An it HARM NONE, do what ye will. DO UNTO OTHERS as you would have them DO UNTO YOU. Isn't this why we are here? Shouldn't this be our goal every year? I don't want to be told what my future is, I'd rather live it for myself, it's more fun. It's more rewarding.

I like many others feel that there is far to much unrest in our world , countys with weapons of mass destruction , and leaders of countrys with no regard for human life , I feel the coming months will bring about changes that all living souls have never seen but always have had great fear ofbut this shall pass, time will heal all

If my mind serves me right, I believe New Year's is a new chapter in your life story, a death of the past, and birth to the future. Though many things occured throughout the past year, there is nothing I can do to change the past nor predict the future. What comes goes. I'm thankful to the fact that I have freedom here in America---for my resolution is to be what I want to be, just carefree and happy-go-lucky me. :)) Blessed Be.

Well, I don't really want to know what 2003 has in store for the world. The last time I glipsed the future, I saw something I didn't want to see, and within 2 months it came to pass. It was something I knew would happen anyway, but I didn't want to face it. I haven't used the cards seriously since.

On a brighter note, I think that things may be turning around - and I am sure this is not going to be a popular position, but I give the credit to North Korea. Many, MANY people (I, myself was one) claimed that Bush's path mirrored Hitler's in the 30s. But now, I think there is hope. I think that with the threats of nuclear attacks from Korea, Bush will have to think twice about whether he REALLY wants to go after Iraq's oil or not. Now he faces what brought both Hitler and Napolean down - splitting your army to fight on 2 fronts simultaniously. Pride is unpredictable, but a staring contest is better than war.

There is still a long way to go before anyone sleeps without a worry in their head, but I think that 2003 will be a stalemate - at least that is what I hope. I really don't want to know if I am wrong, I will deal with that if and when it arrives.

For now, the Forest House is a good place to escape to, and from there, I can think of another couple of stories that you know will have a happy ending.

First a quick historyFor two nights running I had the same nightmare I was walking down a street and saw a group of grim faced women in the grounds of a dark old house some were up a ladder that reached up three floors to the roof.some women were trying to nail tiles back on the roof others were throwing them down,I climbed the ladder and despite my fear of hights tried to help them2 weeks to the day the twin towers fell.

The second nightmare I had for only one night and while I don't remember it I do remember that one week later the ivasion of afganistan started and an isralie jet was shot down.

When the allies attack iraiq they will find that chemical and bilogical weapons have been used to deneigh them the cities Bin ladens group will make attacks and israle will sufferand the war will engulf the middle eastern countries pakistan and india will fight and plages will break out around the world.sadam has hidden his weapons in the desert and in office blocks and private homes around his country and he will use them despite killing thousands of his own people his will be a scorched earth war and this time he will destroy his own oil wells.

The line between the survival and death of the world is thin I hope we will make it.I had a dream last week in which I was traveling between dover castle and the rest of britian collecting people in a train equiped with a hospital the population was numbered in the thousands.

I use to think it would be cool to see the future My eldest sister most years dreams the winning horse in the grand national I just see the death of friends and other grim events,I hope some one can see a different future for us all.

I hope that nothing changes in my personal life. I continue to enjoy just breathing and being. For the world in general, who knows? I sure don't. But I don't ascribe to the "sky is falling" scenario myself. I'll bet that in 1903, 1913, 1923, heck, pick any year you want, that humans always want to say how bad their times are, we are in the "end times", that if we don't do something "right now", humans are going down the tubes. Sometimes I don't think anything ever really changes. And I know the situation in the world isn't wonderful (it never has been) but times have been worse.I wouldn't say I'm optimistic or pessimistic, kind of benignly indifferent. Whatever happens, happens.

Blessed Be,..........I foresee a few odd things happening, cloning becoming an every day reality, instead of science fiction. I also see a distinct possibility of war with the Arabian culture. The other possibilities are a little more grim, and since I want this year to start on a good note Iam not telling...........My crystal balls need recharging, but I think this up coming year, provided we survive the first six months, should be interesting.

we have one superpower completely out of control at home and abroad. we have a decaying superpower destroying tiny countries like chechyna without compunction. we have a lot of very pissed off non-superpowers who have reached the point where they will do whatever it takes to hurt those they blame, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly, for their problems. we have israel and palestine, a catalyst for a lot of the aforementioned pissed off non-superpowers. we have people enslaved worldwide to the mighty corporate machine that is becoming the true ruler of us all-- enslaved by what the machine has to offer, and enslaved to make the things it has to offer. we have a planet that is polluted and tired and angry, and should be with the pathetic little beings crawling all over it destroying everything that is beautiful and fresh and growing in the name of oil and cars and convenience. we are losing millions of trees, and the protective layer around the earth, and we are running out of places to dump all of the garbage we use. and all of that is just the tip of the iceberg.

smaller scale-- there are too many people and not enough jobs. there are starving people and homeless people in the wealthiest nation in the world, and their numbers are growing steadily. things that should have improved have not-- women have barely succeeded in declaring ownership of their own bodies in this, the wealthiest nation in the world, and they are hanging onto that ownership by the merest thread. we have slavery in this country-- sweatshops, and illegal/legal immigrants forced to work for nothing. we have prisons proliferating from one end of the country to the other, and a drug war that goes on and on generating money for the government and for the drug dealers while the addicts die and the innocent are victimized and there is no hint of general universal healthcare in sight.

personally i understand wren not liking the first peek at the michael moore calender, but in some respects i think he is an optimist.

2003 is going to be yet another rung on the ladder going down into the abyss unless something starts happening and starts happening for the better.

I pray to the Divine -- my Goddess and my God, the spirits who have lingered to teach me, and to the soul of the Earth -- that small miracles may prevent the onset of war. Unleashing the forces of destruction upon human beings, the infrastructure of communities, and the planet itself, is not a tool that can ensure peace or security. It's like an executioner's axe poised over the vulnerable neck of the human race. Will Kali Ma stay her hand if human beings abuse their power yet again? Will there be yet another chance when its over?

"Where there is fear, there is power."

Well, I can tell you that I am afraid. A new member of my family will be born into this world in 2003. I am afraid for that child, for the soul who is incarnate right now inside my loved-one's womb. I am afraid for people in this country who are considered "alien" -- or is it "impure"? I am afraid for the future of humanity. There has never been a guarantee of perpetual existence. It is within the realm of possibility that humanity will destroy itself.

I yield my helplessness to Goddess. I ask Her what actions I can take. I pray for peace. I heal my wounds and love my extended family.

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